|
GO BACK? YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!
by Libby |
|
| |
My Mom was a wonderful spirit caught in a lifetime she
just couldn't deal with. Highly intelligent and filled with
empathy for her fellow man, it was as if she was always
picturing life the way it could be, or should be, but felt
helpless to make that a reality.
| |
There's a fine line between intelligence and insanity and
often Mom would become extremely depressed with the
way her saw her life going.
| |
When we were young teenagers, Mom was at her worst
with her depression, and would often talk about suicide.
Feeling trapped in a lifestyle that she felt she could neither
escape nor control, she had attempted suicide more than
once.
| |
One day she succeeded.
| |
We lived in a suburb of a very large metropolitan area,
but due to our circumstances and lack of insurance, the
ambulance was required to make the long journey down
into the center of the city to a General Hospital. It was the
only place that those without insurance would be treated.
My sister rode with the ambulance.
| |
I had not arrived home from school yet, and when I did,
there was a note from my sister telling me to come
downtown to the hospital right away. It was a very long
bus ride.
| |
When I arrived, my sister and I were asked to wait in the
lobby of the emergency area while Mom was being treated.
| |
My Mom was hospitalized for quite a while after that, and
I had not known that, at the time, she had actually died
and had been resuscitated
| |
It wasn't until more than twelve years had passed that I
was told the truth.
| |
In my early twenties I read a book called "Life After Life"
by Raymond A. Moody. It was a wonderful examination
of the stories people would tell of an afterlife after having
a near-death experience. The experiences described were of
traveling through a tunnel into a warm, bright light, that
many believed was the presence of God.
| |
Shortly after reading the book, I was visiting my Mom and
we got into a discussion of the book and the experiences in
general. My Mom then told me that she had had just such
an experience those many years ago, when she had 'died'.
| |
I was shocked and amazed and asked her why she had
never told me about it. She explained that she hadn't
talked about it because she thought nobody would believe
her.
| |
Then I asked her to describe to me the exact experience
she'd had.
| |
She clearly remembered leaving her body in the
emergency room and floating up near the ceiling. She
described the procedure that had happened when her
stomach was pumped. She even described the pattern of
the tile on the floor of the room. She had watched as the
doctors and nurses fought to save her life.
| |
Then she said she had felt a pull and that she turned and
began to travel through a long tunnel toward a very bright
light. She described an incredible feeling of urgency, that
she felt she just had to get to that light. She said it was
very warm and the feeling of love radiating from it made
her want to get there all the more.
| |
But when she got to the end of the tunnel and entered the
light, she was told that it wasn't her time and she needed
to return to her body. She remembered protesting that
decision and at that point she was shown a vision of my
sister and myself, sitting in the emergency room lobby, all
alone. Suddenly she was back in her body and was being
awakened by the doctors and nurses calling her name,
asking her to open her eyes.
| |
For many years after this discussion, I had assumed that
the reason she was sent back was to take care of my sister
and myself. After all, we were very young yet. But that
didn't seem logical, the more I thought about it. Our life
didn't improve and in fact worsened, and eventually I
went to live with my father for the rest of my high school
years.
| |
Many, many years later, my mother finally gave up the
grudge that she'd held against God and asked Him into
her life and to live in her heart. It was a time of rejoicing
and renewed relationships for us all.
| |
Two years after my Mom accepted the Lord, she became
very ill. Very quickly her conditioned worsened and she
passed away at the age of 52.
| |
Looking back, and with her near-death experience in
mind, it now seems to me that the Lord didn't send her
back that day long ago to take care of her children. I'm
now convinced He had another idea in mind altogether.
| |
I believe He sent her back, because He knew that she really
didn't KNOW Him yet. And I think He wanted dearly for
her to come to Him on her own belief. He gave her many
years to acquire that belief and to attain true knowledge of
Him, and when she'd done that, He called her home
quickly.
| |
Lord. I'm happy you sent her back at the time, because we
needed her desperately. But I'm even more happy that she
had come to know YOU before you called her home, and
I'm at peace with the thought that even now she is in
Your Presence, and ever so grateful that I will see her
again one day.
| |
| |
Libby
| |
| |
| |
|
LITTLE WHITE RABBIT
(Tears that hurt)
by Roger |
|
| |
"Precious Moments-Plush little friends" read the blue and
white tag which hung on the little, white bunny rabbit
that I tenderly held in my hand at the Walmart store
earlier this morning.
| |
I slowly opened the card, which was attached to the rabbits
ear, and I read "Never leave a child unattended while
using this or any stuffed animal."
| |
The tears started running down my cheek as I squeezed
the small little bunny between my two rough, callused
hands and then I placed it into the cart. Oh God! How
many times I have read those words in the past? But this
time they had a very special meaning to me.
| |
Judy and I walked out of the department store and
without speaking we got into our car. We were now
heading toward a silent and very quiet place. A place
where everyone that we have ever known has always
dreaded to enter.
| |
After we arrived, smiled and shook hands with everyone
who was wearing a red coat and a black necktie. Then Judy
and I were left all alone in a small stylish room, with lots
of antique furniture. Judy slowly, without saying a word,
opened the plastic Walmart bag and carefully removed a
soft yellow receiving blanket. Then she took out the small
little bunny and with tears in her eyes she gently handed
it to me. I reached over and kissed the little, white bunny
on the top of its head for the last and final time and then
I laid it onto the clean, soft, pillow inside the small, white,
satin covered child's coffin.
| |
It is the first time in my life that I have ever had to leave
one of my grandchildren unattended, and all alone, with a
stuffed toy; and it hurts me really, really bad inside.
| | | |
Roger Dean Kiser, Sr.
| | |
IN MEMORY:
Morgan Claire Kiser
March 12, 2001-March 12, 2001
| |
| |
| |
|
NOT TIME TO GO
by Sharon |
|
| |
She lay there on the bed so still. Her frail, lifeless body
looked so small. She was a widow now. Grief had taken its
ugly toll on her physical, mental and emotional
condition. The love of her life had been taken away
swiftly after the news -- cancer. He was twenty-two when
she met him. They were married over forty years. She had
been in and out of the hospital several times since the
death of her soul mate in March of 1976. Now she was
letting go of life. My mother was drifting away and I didn't
want to let her go. I felt for her pulse. It was gone.
| |
My little daughter and I had been kneeling at the side of
her bed praying that the Lord would deliver this precious
woman we adored. Many times I had been shown that the
prayer of a little child, even three years old, renders
awesome results. Just as I was about to call the ambulance,
as the physician had instructed, she roused and her eyes
began to flutter and she smiled at us. She recovered and
had eleven additional years to love and be loved by her
family. Even though her heart was weak, she was alive.
| |
This story alone is encouraging. Anytime someone can
overcome the deepest depression, demons of the soul that
torment day and night, and live to bless others, that's an
encouragement. But, that's only part of the story.
| |
A year after this incident, when much healing had taken
place in my mother's life, we discussed the day my three-
year old and I knelt and prayed beside her bed. She
listened as I told her how I had found no pulse and then
suddenly she was awake. She looked at me with her large
brown doe eyes and said, "Let me tell you what happened
to me while you were praying." She began an incredible
account of her experience that day.
| |
She had felt so weak and was speaking to the Lord about
how she felt her life was too difficult. Her energy and
spirit were at the lowest level with nothing left to
motivate her. Suddenly she felt the presence of the Lord
all around her. She saw the room fill with light and felt
an awesome peace all around her. Her mind suddenly
became clear. He had come to take her with Him and
deliver her from the pain of this world.
| |
The Angel of the Lord was holding her hand but she
could not see Him. He gently lifted her up from the bed.
As they were standing, she looked down at the bed. She
could see her own body lying motionless, my daughter
and I praying and she could hear our prayers. She saw my
tears flowing down my cheeks, dropping on the bed as I
held her hands. She knew that she was my best friend.
And, she had always told us that we could prepare for the
death of a loved one but we would never be ready. At that
moment, she felt I would be too sad if she was gone. Time,
as she knew it, had no meaning for her. She watched us
lifting our hearts to the One who can accomplish all
miracles, and she was motivated.
| |
As she told me of this encounter, her eyes filled with
tears and joy at the same time. The months that had
passed by since this encounter had not been easy. And
neither would the years that followed. But she was not
sorry about the request she had made that day that
changed our lives forever. She said to Him "Lord, I can't
go now. They are too sad. Let me wait until they are
prepared." Until that moment she felt she could not live
another day in this world. As she stood on the threshold
of an eternity of peace, she sacrificed her own desire to go
because she did not want to leave another in such sadness.
| |
As I have stated previously, she had eleven more years to
enjoy her family. She moved from her hometown to live
with my sister and enjoyed being there for the birth of
another grandson. She never had to live alone. However,
all events during those years that followed were not easy.
One of her grandchildren was killed in an auto accident at
the age of seventeen and she was plagued with angina
pains. In May of 1987, she slipped quietly away as my sister
and I stood by her side. This time as sorrow filled my
heart, I had joy in knowing that she would never have to
be sad or in pain again. I knew that angels surrounded her
and my sister and I would survive.
| | |
Copyright 2000 Sharon R. Cleveland
3213 Bright Court, Kissimmee, FL 34744
| |
| |
| |
|
ON THE WINGS OF A CARDINAL
by Lori |
|
| |
Lori of Massachusetts knows that God answers prayers.
| |
Lori says that every summer her twin sister and family
flies to Florida to vacation at the summer home of her in
laws and every year Lori worries about the safety of the
family during their travels. It has always been Lori's habit
to say a prayer each time for their safety.
| |
"God please keep Lisa, Larry and the kids safe and get
them there and bring them home safely."
| |
Lori says, "The night before they left on their vacation I
was reading Angels on Earth. There was a story about a
mother whose son was in the hospital and she prayed to
God to give her a sign that her son would be okay and that
sign was Cardinals. On my way to work that morning I
was praying and that story I read the night before stuck
with me and it made me feel so good. I asked God "could
you give me a sign like you did Diane in the story I read
last night?"
| |
When Lori got to work that morning she was no sooner
in the door and she was asked to take a phone call.
| |
She says, "Before I took off my coat a co-worker said Lori,
Cardinal Health is on the phone for you. I took the call
forgetting about my prayer. A couple hours later I went
outside for a break and a Cardinal (which I have never
seen before) landed in the bush next to me. I then
remembered the prayer and THANKED GOD!! I told co-
workers about the story. The following day the Cardinal
was on the hood of my truck when they went out to break.
We never saw the cardinal again.
| |
| |
Lori Meister
| |
| |
| |
|
"OUR ANNE"
by Vance |
|
| |
Though now many years ago, | |
I remember well that sad day, | |
When a parent to rest they would lay | |
In Youngstown cemetery. | | | |
While waiting there in peaceful site, | |
(Some boys and I had come early.) | |
We did exploring of others" plight. | |
A "Marble Orchard" before us stood, | |
With stone trees among the wood. | | | |
The day was sunlit bright, | |
Pine trees a glorious sight. | |
With gentle breeze we climbed the hill. | |
Teens and I saw a sight so strangely still. | | | |
Then one small stone stopped my walk; | |
An ancient stone blocked boys" talk. | |
Loss, sorrow and tears possess a place | |
With their presence never to erase. | | | |
Upon that stone date, age and name, | |
Two words alone spoke her life's fame: | | | |
"Our Anne" | | | |
Monuments to rich and famous | |
Tell of deeds so fine and great, | |
But does "our" always appear? | |
Is parent, friend, or child so dear? | | | |
On her day she was three years old, | |
Lost for years from family fold. | |
As others came I looked around | |
And other "Anne stones" I found. | | | |
I seemed to see clothes so strange, | |
Groups here and there gathered "round, | |
To sing Grace's sweet sound, | |
And then lay a form into ground, | | | |
I know most losses are now healed, | |
And Anne with family in Shepherd field. | |
All our lives but a story told, | |
Until beyond time in that great fold. | | | |
I have the Faith but remember well | |
That even God at death can cry, | |
That even God the loss can feel, | |
Until with shout that death to heal. | | | |
But I'll never forget this story told, | |
Her toddler clothes to see so old: | | | |
"Our Anne" | | |
| |
("The Marble Orchard" is the name of a series of plays by
Mr. Tim Henderson of Lewiston, NY.)
| | | |
Vance Agee, 2000
| | | |
Mr. Agee is the Assistant Principal at Lewiston-Porter
High School, Youngstown, NY. He is also serving as a
part-time "adjunct" instructor in the Department of
Education at Niagara University. He enjoys writing and
has decided to write something new every week and to
develop as a writer
| |
| |
| |
|
WINGS FOR VERA ELIZABETH
by Brenda |
|
| |
Vera Elizabeth Mabrey Coble was born on Jan 21, 1916 in
South Carolina. She was surely one of God's chosen ones.
When she was six years old, she was at a tent camp
meeting. She had never sung in her life, but when she got
up to sing, God gave her the most beautiful voice ever.
This became one of many blessings.
| |
When she was 10 years old, her father died and her
mother had to work to feed the children. There were three
younger children, two, four, and six years old. She was
taken out of the last part of the third grade to care for
them. She loved school and God blessed her again He
gave her the knowledge to educate herself well. She used
to say, "I did not finish the 3rd grade, but I can say my
ABC's backwards. Can you?"
| |
He also gave her the gift of having unconditional love for
everyone. She shared with all she knew, of her laughter,
of her time of all the gifts she had. It showed with the
many family and friends. She was like a setting hen. She
took people under her wing.
| |
God blessed her with five children, four are living. Her
first child lived to be 18 hours old. Even this event, Vera
Elizabeth looked on with a positive nature. She would
say, "When I get to heaven, I can rock my baby." She
always knew where she was going.
| |
In 1982, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She
underwent surgery. The doctor only closed her back up
and said she had only three weeks to live.
| |
Goe had other plans. He intervened and healed her. He
was not finished with her here on earth.
| |
In April, 1998, she was diagnosed with congestive heart
failure and kidney failure. She was hospitalized and one
lung collapsed. God was preparing her to come home. He
did keep her here for another year.
| |
On May 10th, Mother's Day of that year, she had just come
home from the hospital four or five days before. She was
only eating bites of food at a time. We asked her what she
wanted for Mother's Day and she said a picnic with
everyone here. Now, to her, that was a lot of people. So,
we took her outside for the picnic. Pictures were taken all
day, and the one that is so special to all of us is the one
that seems to indicate that angels were present at that
party. (There is an URL provided at the end of the story so
that you can go to see the picture)
| |
God gave us a special gift that day and we want to share it
with the world to inspire, uplift, and give hope, that with
God, all things are possible. Later on, in the summer of
that year, Mom was asked to be in the cancer survivors'
walk. She had to be pushed in a wheelchair but she was so
proud to be there. Only, while she was gone, her home
almost burned to the ground. The four original rooms
were all that was saved.
| |
Since, then, the house has been rebuilt and it is now Maw
Maw's Angel House. A house that had so much love, it
could only be used for God's work.
| |
Vera, Elizabeth is using the golden wings in heaven
because she was truly an Angel On Earth. On April
21,1999, God called her home. We hope that her story will
make a difference in your life. We know she would like
for it to.
| | | |
DEDICATED TO VERA ELIZABETH MABREY COBLE
BY HER FAMILY
| | | |
Brenda
| | |
To see the picture that the family took that day visit:
www.mawmawsangelhouse.com
| |
| |
| |
|
|
|
